Rafael Navarro at Woodsy's Music

This past week, Rafael Navarro, master mouthpiece maker, traveled from his home in Colorado to be with us in the shop for one day. We had a great time! Rafael introduced his line of saxophone mouthpieces to our customers, answered questions and did mouthpiece refacings for only $85.

Rafael makes custom, handmade saxophone mouthpieces. His story is interesting. While practicing before a gig he dropped his favorite mouthpiece and damaged it. With no prior refacing experience he ventured to the hardware store and picked up 400 grit sand paper and a Swiss file. With these tools he repaired his mouthpiece and actually adjusted it more to his liking. This opened up the flood gates for him. He pursued apprenticeships with Pedro Rivera and Ralph Morgan and eventually began designing and crafting his own mouthpieces.

Now Woodsy’s music is his first dealer in the United States and we could not be more excited! Here is a glimpse into his visit:

Cleveland Legend Ernie Krivda and Rafael working on cleaning up his Charles Bay metal piece. It was a real treat listening to these two talk about sound concepts and ideas. There is talk of some collaboration in the future. Exciting!

Chris Coles explaining to Rafael what he looks for in a mouthpiece. Chris is an outstanding local saxophonist and educator. He tried the Maestra Marble Hard Rubber Alto 7 and had only good things to say about it.

Conn-Selmer Artist Dave Sterner talking with Rafael about alto and tenor mouthpieces. Dave commented that the pieces play "consistent from top to bottom"

Horns from Yanagisawa, Selmer, Keilwerth, Buffet, Yamaha, and MACSAX for everyone to try!

Rafael's visit was a huge success and we hope to have him back soon. Stay tuned for an entry explaining each Navarro Mouthpiece that we have in stock!